[Review] AGE Explorations: Gifts of the Gods

[jameson (ST)]

AGE Explorations: Gifts of the Gods

Vitals: Published By Green Ronin • 9 pages • $1.50 • limited color PDF • Written by: Steve Kenson with Will Hindmarch

Background

The Adventure Gaming engine, a.k.a. the A.G.E. (or, more simply, AGE) system is the mechanics behind Green Ronin's Dragon Age RPG. As part of their effort to expand the AGE system beyond the Dragon Age game and into their own settings Green Ronin has started to release supplements for the AGE system that are not part of the Dragon Age setting. The first two of these AGE Battle & Loot: Tomb of the Seeress and AGE Explorations: Gifts of the Gods are $1.50 PDFs released via their web store. Since my GM might use Tomb of the Seeress in part of whole for our ongoing Dragon Age game I will not be reviewing that. On the other hand Gifts of the Gods is fair game...

What is it?

Gifts of the Gods is a reprint of material originally published in Kobold Quarterly with a little extra added in. It provides two new backgrounds for faithful characters, as well as a new Talent for those with faith derived power. This Talent is further divided into ten different domains/purviews/aspects/what-have-you ranging from War and Death to Nature and Thievery. There are also details on Divine Stunts accessible by the Faithful to varying degrees based on the level of Talent the character has.

The Divine Gift Talent is given Novice, Journeyman, and Master levels for each of the potential Dominions and each is rather different from the others, with clear flavor inspired by that Dominion. The effects are generally balanced well with either minor at will abilities, or more powerful once per encounter, and once per day abilities. The majority are buff-type powers, or non-combat powers, such as the Thievery Dominion power to open locks. Some powers work as an attack, or via a resistible mechanic and utilize a Spellpower type stat for the Faithful called, Zeal.

The two backgrounds are the Cloistered Monastic and the Spiritual Devotee, both of which can be any of the core classes or races, and focus on character's who have a strong backgrounds of faith-based life. A few paragraphs are devoted to the interaction between the Divine Gift Talent and the three different classes in the AGE system, with suggestions for how each class might represent certain types of divinely empowered archetypes such as paladins, clerics, and even cultists to dark gods of death and malice.

The last part of the product is a short section detailing new Divine Stunts. These are performable by the Faithful to varying degree depending on the level of their Divine Gift. Anybody who knows the AGE system knows how much stunts can swing the tide in battle from one side to the other, and these are no different with stunts to raise defense or armor, or to heal allies and even obtain a miracle on one's behalf.

Closing Thoughts

This is a pretty solid expansion to the AGE system. I don't expect that this will be perfect for every group or game, and I am unsure how well it meshes with the Dragon Age setting specifically, but for players and GMs looking to use the AGE system for their own settings this will no doubt be a very nearly required purchase. For the cost it is an incredibly good value as well.

Rating: 90%, This may not work with some people's games but any groups looking to generate a more traditional high fantasy feel to their AGE system games will find this product an incredibly good investment.